Conflict In Your Heart
There is a battle going on for your heart
We begin this morning with the story of a boy who is possessed by a demon.
That sounds a bit dramatic doesn’t it.
Demons are certainly a dramatic concept. Right? A bit antiquated, old fashioned, and out of step with scientific knowledge - but dramatic! Well, Maybe not as antiquated as you might think.
Ephesians 6:11-12
11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.
12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
The apostle Paul writes of a spiritual battle involving much more than just flesh and blood.
Most people understand this - especially today. There is a great emphasis on angels and spiritual beings
Rather than dealing with speculation and popular views let’s go to the source of all spiritual things.
Let me tell you what God says about this spiritual battle for your heart
Mark 9:14-29
14 When they came to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and the teachers of the law arguing with them.
15 As soon as all the people saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with wonder and ran to greet him.
16 are you arguing with them about?“he asked.
17 A man in the crowd answered, , I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech.
18 Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not.“
19 unbelieving generation,“Jesus replied, long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.“
20 So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth.
21 Jesus asked the boy’s father, long has he been like this?“childhood,“he answered.
22 has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.“
23 “‘If you can’?“said Jesus. is possible for him who believes.“
24 Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!“
25 When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the evil spirit. deaf and mute spirit,“he said, command you, come out of him and never enter him again.“
26 The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, ’s dead.“
27 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up.
28 After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, couldn’t we drive it out?“
He replied, kind can come out only by prayer.“
The Great Spiritual Battle
Frank Peretti writes of this battle in the book titled Present Darkness“
It opens with a description of a skirmish involving an angel of light and a demon of darkness. I regard this as powerful imagery and an allegory of sorts. In other words there is much truth here in a narrative which is fictional.
Make no mistake - Demon’s are real; Satan is real; and there is a real battle going on.
Sometimes the spiritual battle is bold and sometimes it is very subtle and beneath the surface of what appears to be normal. Kind of like the difference between WWII and the war“which followed with the Soviet Union.
In one there are raging battles involving artillery, war planes, bombs, bullets, and blood. In the other there is behind the scenes maneuvering, propaganda, political posturing with lots of subterfuge, trickery and terrorism.
Where there is openness towards spiritual things - the battle is visible. Where there is an attitude of rational scientific thinking the battle is subtle and hidden.
I had the occasion to travel to India in 1996. During that trip several of us visited a village near Madras. We wanted to learn about a people group called the “- a tribe of low-caste Indians that lived at the bottom of the social strata.
Eric Derry (our missions minister), Toni Wright (a prayer warrior on the trip with us), and I sat on a low cot in the middle of the village. It had been drug from a near by hut and placed under a tree in the center of what might be called main street. Around us, about 15-20 feet away, stood a small group of villagers. We talked to some of them for a while about their village and their way of life.
After a time their curiosity about us waned a bit and we had a moment to talk together. We decided to pray for the people of this village and for the gospel to have an opportunity to take root here.
As we prayed a dog which was standing next to Toni and which had been restlessly silent up till then began to bark and yap its head off. I was a bit irritated but didn’t think too much of the situation until Toni, in anger, suddenly stopped praying turned toward the dog and blurted, the name of Jesus, be silent!“ The dog stopped instantly and went away as fast as it could with its tail between its legs.
Now you can think what you like - but on at least one other occasion that happened to us while we were in India. I believe that we have a very real spiritual enemy.
In America, the battle is subtler but just as real.
A friend of mine named Tom Jones, (really!) moved from the Dayton, Ohio area where there is a lot of Christian influence to a university city on the east coast where there isn’t. The rational skepticism of this age prevails.
After about a year of working to start a new church there he came back to Ohio to visit. What he told me was that it was a relief to be back. That there was a pervasive darkness“in that eastern city and that when he returned to Dayton, he and his wife could feel the difference.
Satan’s goal is clear - the destruction of your life
1 Peter 5:9
Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
This is not a game
Stay away from the occult. Do not mess with tarot cards, ojea boards, seances, and the like. They can suck you in and destroy you
The battle is won by faith in Jesus
Look quickly this morning at two groups of people and one individual and their faith - or lack of it.
First there were the Scribes
The Scribes could not be called religious!
They were callous in their unbelief. They were the skeptics of their age. They simply did not believe that Christ was the Savior.
This unbelief showed itself in several ways: There was scorn, ridicule of Christ and His followers. There were many attempts to discredit Him. And, there was a virulent hatred for the things of Christ. (They wanted Him DEAD!)
We see the same skeptics today in every part of our society.
Because of them there is a denial of God in public areas, schools and government alike, where spiritual things are scorned.
We see the acceptance and protection of every imaginable religion, but Christianity! In fact they tend to accept ANYTHING that is supposedly rational, no matter how bizarre, but NOT CHRIST!
I was listening to NPR’s news story the other day about a scientific group which released their theory that the arth will be destroyed by sun in 1 billion years
Asteroid 62 miles across every 6000 years to go close to the earth will move the earth’s orbit enough to buy another billion years or so - give or take a 100 million years.
They insist that they walk by sight - not by faith.
I challenge that…
They think it not worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God. They KNOW, but the REFUSE TO BELIEVE - Romans 1
Everyone walks by faith
The rationalist puts his faith in science and reason
Humanist puts his faith in humanity
Communist puts his faith in a process of human evolution called diatectical materialism where thesis is confronted with antithesis and the result is a new synthesis with communism at the top the heap
Atheist puts his faith in himself
Agnostic puts his faith on hold
Evolutionist puts his faith in time and chance
Fascist puts his faith in the master race
Callous unbelief in the face of overwhelming evidence, can only be explained as a REJECTION of the truth.
God wants us to live by faith…
Then there were the Disciples of Jesus
They were believers and followers of Jesus
These were the other apostles - part of the twelve they followed Jesus and they were committed believers- but the reason they were unsuccessful in their attempt to help this boy Jesus explained was a lack of faith which rested on prayer.
They were following Jesus religiously
Religion is the practice of worship
Religion focuses on liturgies, rites, formalities, and formula’s
But, they were OVERCONFIDENT and they depended upon themselves
Several years ago I went to an assembly of men in the north part of Michigan called the "Northmen" where there was a three day meeting of preaching and teaching. At one of the afternoon meetings a thunderstorm hit. The preacher stopped speaking and prayed for the rain to stop. It rained even harder.
Sometimes we’re not really praying. We’re showing off - hey look at what I can do. Look at my great faith. This is not prayer. Prayer is a relationship with God.
God wants us to live by faith built on the intimacy of prayer…
Finally, there was a desperate man
This man’s faith was shaky to say the least
He didn’t come to Jesus as a follower
He hadn’t been in church in years.
Only one reason he was there then - his son was sick and he had run out of options.
Like some he prayed but his expectations were low and his attitude demanding
Help up - present aroist - do it now!
When challenged he was honest
I believe, help me in my unbelief.
This is not the formula for miracles
Peter Pan demanded that everyone in the audience believe and clap before tinkerbell would live.
Yet, Jesus heard the man’s cry and the tiny bit of faith
When you ask God for his help - even when it is imperfect - He is there.
Some time ago Dallas Theological Seminary was facing a terrible financial situation. Foreclosure of the university seemed to be imminent. The faculty were gathered together in a prayer session asking God to intervene and rescue the Seminary. One of the faculty members prayed, we know the cattle on a thousand hills are yours. And right now we need you to sell a few of those cattle so that we can pay our bills…“
A couple of hours later a gentleman walked into the Administration building. He approached one of the ladies working there and explained to her that he would like to make a donation to the university. He was a rancher and a cattle herder. He had driven to town with a full truck of cattle to trade to someone, but the potential deal had fallen through. Then he felt inspired to sell his cattle at market and bring the proceeds here…
God wants us to live by faith built on the intimacy of prayer and dependent on him.
